Why Does Ukraine Want Frozen Russian Assets?

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00:00And I just want to ask you one final thought of yours. EU leaders are meeting for one last push

00:06to secure a deal to fund Ukraine with frozen Russian cash. Moscow says the frozen asset

00:13seizure would be illegal. Why does Ukraine want Russia's money right now?

00:21Well, look, it's because it's not just Russia's money. It's money, which is assets. It's assets

00:29which are sitting frozen in European banks, financial institutions, which should be used

00:37to rebuild Ukraine. But before we go into the rebuilding stage, we need this money to defend

00:43Ukraine and to push back on Russia's aggression. And this money, it's being taken away from Russia.

00:49It's a normal, reflective measure as to the crime of aggression. There's a crime. There needs to be

00:58a punishment. This is the punishment. This is the sanction, taking away of the money. For us in

01:02Ukraine, as well as for many Europeans, by the way, it's really unclear why should it be the United

01:07States or Europe or taxpayers in any country, for that matter, paying for defending Ukraine and for

01:15rebuilding Ukraine when it is Russia that is committing the crime that it is Russia that is

01:19on a daily basis and nightly basis, launching mass attacks with missiles, drones, destroying our

01:26infrastructure, hospitals, schools, energy systems, housing, you know, they're the culprit here.

01:33And so they should bear the burden of all of this rebuilding process and all of the financial

01:41implications that come with it. So it's only a natural step. And of course, Russia is really scared

01:48of this of this of this cash, these assets becoming unblocked and becoming available for Ukrainians defense,

01:56because they know that even if the US pulls out in that case, that money will be enough to make sure

02:03that Ukraine can go on defending itself and pushing back on Russia for a number of years.